NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb women’s soccer team will host its first home Atlantic Sun matches of 2011, this weekend, when ETSU (Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m.) and USC Upstate (Oct. 2, 1 p.m.) These will be the first home games played at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex this season after the complex underwent a lighting expansion project.

Lipscomb (2-8-1) opened its 2011 conference campaign with losses at Mercer and Kennesaw State, last weekend. The Lady Bisons are searching for their first conference victory since Oct. 23, 2009 at North Florida.

The Lady Bisons have had a difficult time on the offensive end, scoring just one goal in the past four games. Senior Meghan McGuire and the rest of the Lady Bisons offense have shown flashes of offensive prowess in 2011, but need to get back on track going forward in the conference season.

Next weekend, Lipscomb will face Belmont in a Friday night match-up between two of the conference’s most fierce rivals at 7 p.m.

Check Lipscombsports.com for more information on the Lady Bison soccer team, and follow us on Twitter (@Lipscombwsoccer) and like us on Facebook (Lipscomb Women’s Soccer).

Opponents Last Matches

ETSU defeated Upstate 4-0 in the conference-opener for both teams. The Lady Bucs outshot the Spartans 32-5. ETSU followed that with a non-conference win against UNC-Asheville 3-0, behind two Genna Petersen goals contributing to the victory. Caitlin Gaughan picked up A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week honors after shutting out both opponents; she lowered her league-leading GAA to 0.85. After the loss to ETSU, Upstate regrouped Sunday with a 3-2 win against VMI.

Last Time Against This Week’s Opponents

Lipscomb lost to both ETSU (2-0) and Upstate (1-0) on the road. A 30-yarder from Courtney Deem and a broken play goal in front of the net from Kayla White would provide all the scoring for the Lady Bucs. Erin Zerio made four saves. Against Upstate, a 35-yard strike from Jessica Jackrya in the 70th minute doomed the Bisons, who lost despite outshooting the Spartans, 10-6.

Lipscomb Opponents Peppering Net, Lead to Scoring Chances

Lipscomb’s opponents have attacked the net in the past few games. The Lady Bisons have been outshot 96-19, including 51-9 shots on goal. That has led to the Lady Bisons being outscored 14-1 since the Bulldog Classic, which ended Sept. 11.

Lady Bisons Drop 4-0 Match at Kennesaw State

Two Kennesaw State goals in the opening 10 minutes set the tone and Lipscomb never recovered, falling to 0-2 in A-Sun play after a 4-0 loss to the Owls. Freshman Allison Brown, in just her second career start, put up the fifth-best save number in program history for the Lady Bisons, making 13 saves in 17 chances.

Offensive Onslaught Dooms Lady Bisons Against Mercer

Despite eight saves from junior Erin Zerio, Lipscomb fell in its conference opener at Mercer, 3-0. Mercer outshot the Lady Bisons, 22-5. Lipscomb has lost its conference-opening match each season since joining the A-Sun in 2003.

Conference Notes

Belmont, ETSU, FGCU and Jacksonville all enter the second weekend of conference play undefeated; Belmont, with two wins and six points, leads the conference going into this weekend.

Senior Meghan McGuire is tied for fifth in the Atlantic Sun in goals (four) and goals per game (0.40/g) and is second in game-winning goals (two).

Junior Erin Zerio is fifth in the A-Sun in save percentage (.774), third in saves (48) and first in saves per game (5.33/g).